The Diplomat
The Spain-India and Spain-China Council Foundations have signed collaboration agreements with the Digital Future Society, an initiative of Mobile World Capital Barcelona and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation to “promote digital humanism”.
The signing of both agreements took place last Monday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was attended by the CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Carlos Grau; the Chairman of the Spain-India Council Foundation and Vice-President of Acciona, Juan Ignacio Entrecanales; the Chairman of the Spain-China Council Foundation and Executive Chairman of Gestamp, Francisco José Riberas; and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Latin America and the Caribbean, Cristina Gallach.
The main objective of these two agreements, according to the two foundations, is to “exchange knowledge and establish ways of cooperation to reflect on the impact of technology on people’s lives” and, therefore, “promote digital humanism”.
The Digital Future Society initiative “recognises the two Asian giants as two of the most relevant countries in terms of technology and innovation” and will work with both foundations to build partnerships with cultural, economic, business and scientific actors. The two foundations will also actively participate in the next edition of the Global Summit of the Digital Future Society, an annual event held in Barcelona to reflect on the construction of a fairer and more inclusive future in the digital era.
After the signing, Carlos Grau stressed “the need to weave a real and plural international network that allows us to analyse the impact of technology on our society, both the risks and the opportunities” and recalled that China is a leader in technological fields such as 5G networks or the Internet of Things. For her part, Cristina Gallach declared that the public-private alliance between the Council and Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundations will have “a very positive impact on companies and civil society”.
Riberas highlighted the important role of the Digital Future Society in issues such as “digital inclusion and the impact of technology on the environment” and recalled that China is one of the countries with the greatest digital projection in the world. For his part, Entrecanales valued “the opportunity to establish a formal link with an entity whose objective is to manage and promote Barcelona as the world capital of mobile telephony”.
